A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

The subject of cookie recipes came up in a forum I visit today. I love me some cookies! So I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes with everyone. This one’s a little different, but it’s really awesome! Here you go:

Russian Tea Cakes

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• more powdered sugar (to roll the cookies in)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour and salt. Beat at low speed until soft dough forms. Stir in pecans.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. Immediately roll cookies in powdered sugar. Cool completely. Reroll cookies in powdered sugar before storing.

Enjoy!

I woke up this morning with a ridiculously sore throat. I’ve had a cold or sinus infection or something for a few days now, and it just keeps getting more annoying. At this point I’m finding myself getting dizzy with sudden movement, so I’m betting I’ll need antibiotics. We shall see if things don’t improve in a few days.

I did manage to get a report done this morning, and that was good. But my computer started acting up and it took me about thirty minutes just to get it into a zipped folder and send it to the client. Nervewracking stuff.

As if that weren’t enough, Pumpkin has had a pretty bad cough, especially in the mornings. I called the doctor’s office and they said to bring her in right after school. I called to tell the teacher I would be picking her up, but didn’t get her and my call wasn’t returned. So I decided just to make it a point to be there by the time school let out and go in after her.

Turns out it was a good thing I didn’t get ahold of the teacher. I got in my truck to leave to pick her up, and I noticed that it wasn’t driving quite right. At first I thought it was the shocks (which sorely need replacement), but I decided to check it out after driving a couple of miles. Good thing I did - one of my tires was nearly flat! It barely had enough air to keep the rim off the ground. So I just turned around and came back home, and rescheduled her appointment.

Considering all that, you might think I had a bad day. But for some reason, it didn’t faze me. Shortly after Hubby got home, he commented on me being in a good mood. I was rather taken aback at first, but then I realized that I was. Imagine that!

I still feel cruddy, and I haven’t gotten any work done today besides finishing that report. Yet somehow I’ve managed to not let it get me down. I wish I knew how, so I could do it every day.

My computer has reached new heights of slowness. It’s absolutely driving me crazy, but there’s no money in the budget for a new one (not even that killer laptop deal that’s mine for the taking). So I’m stuck with it for now.

If there’s anyone more technically inclined than me reading this (I’m sure there is), maybe you can help me out with something. I have my writing files in a folder on my desktop with subfolders for each of my clients. I create a subfolder in the client’s folder for each assignment, which consists of anywhere from one to 30 articles (usually 10 or 15). When I’m done with the assignment, I right click on its folder, go to “send to”, and click “zipped folder” to create a compressed folder to send to the client.

Problem is, every time I do this, my computer slows down to a crawl. When I open the client’s folder, it’s like it already knows what I’m going to do. All the icons disappear from my desktop, sometimes the folder window goes blank, and it takes forever for it to straighten back up. I’m talking sometimes 10 to 15 minutes. It’s not exactly frozen because I can move my mouse, and can sometimes get as far as right-clicking the assignment folder and having the menu pop up. But when I point to “send to”, it just sits there, icons popping back up and reappearing, and that’s it. When it gets done with its little dance, I finally get the “send to” sub-menu, and I can click on “zipped folder” and it’s done within a few seconds.

I thought maybe the folders were too full, so I went through and removed all of the old unzipped subfolders that I didn’t need any more. That didn’t help a bit. I’ve also tried defragmenting, to no avail. Anybody have a clue what could be going on and how to fix it? I would be extremely grateful for any help on this, because it’s affecting my productivity.

As you probably know from recent posts, I’m trying everything I can think of to save money. I don’t have much choice right now, and I’m trying to get together enough money to have Pumpkin a birthday party. So I’ve been cutting back any way I can.

Some of my efforts have worked out pretty well, such as driving as little as possible. I have been making it a point to get as much done each time I go to town as possible, and I’ve managed to go out no more than once a week most of the time. I’ve also done a fairly good job of stretching the grocery dollars, but I suppose I could do better.

But some things haven’t worked out as well as I had hoped. For instance, I ran really low on foundation. I despise going out without makeup on, but without foundation, I’d rather not use anything else, either. If I can’t cover up my pimples and blackheads, what’s the point? It wasn’t too big of a deal, though, because as I said I don’t get out much lately. So I only put on makeup when I’m definitely going out.

That worked out fine until this past week. There was so little foundation in the bottle that the small amount that was there just clung to the sides. So I got the bright idea to add a couple drops of water. Hey, it works for shampoo and conditioner, so why not makeup? Heh.

I did manage to get some more out of the bottle, but it didn’t provide any coverage whatsoever. Oh well, I guess it was worth a try. I ended up going to the store anyway, and darn if I didn’t forget to buy any foundation. So I guess I’ll be going to the store without makeup again.

So I got up at my usual time this morning. Well, actually about 15 minutes late, since Hubby turned the clock off and we both went back to sleep. But I managed to get his lunch packed and help him get out the door at a reasonable time, and to get Pumpkin up and ready to get on the bus. Then I turned on the computer to warm up and grabbed some breakfast.

I ate and got a little work done before my eyelids began to close. It wasn’t a big surprise, since I stayed up until 1:00 this morning. As usual, I couldn’t fight it and had to lay down. I was conked out in no time flat.

I slept until around 11:00. That sucked, but I figured at least I would be able to hang in there the rest of the day. Yeah, right. I alternated between writing and washing and hanging out clothes until about 1:30, and then I became completely unable to concentrate. I had to lay down again. I managed to recoup without going to sleep, and got back up a half hour or so later.

Then after Pumpkin got home I started getting dozy again. Had to take another nap. This is just ridiculous, no?

I keep thinking that maybe I need to start drinking caffeine again, but that didn’t seem to help when I did. Maybe some weight loss pills would give me some extra pep and help me lose some poundage. I’m willing to try just about anything.

I need to call and schedule that sleep study, but I haven’t been able to pin Hubby down on a day he would be willing to take off work. I guess I should just go ahead and schedule it and hope for the best. I can’t make a living like this.

Our second-closest neighbor is a real piece of work. He’s the only neighbor we’ve talked to at length since we moved here. Hubby and I were out loading up some stuff to haul off one morning back when we first moved in, and he was walking down the road and stopped to chat. And boy, could he chat.

I believe he said he was around 70 years old, and from the way he talked, he seems rather contrary. But we were amicable, because we had no reason not to be. He hasn’t stopped to talk since then, and only waved while walking by every now and then.

Well, we didn’t see him walking for a while, which wasn’t all that surprising considering that he doesn’t get out at the same time every morning. Then we saw a “For Sale” sign at the end of his driveway last week. We haven’t seen any vehicles there since, so we’re wondering just what the deal is.

I thought maybe he had already moved out, but I haven’t seen any moving trucks coming or going. Then I thought maybe he had passed on, but I haven’t seen any funeral signs, either. I suppose he could have ended up in a nursing home, but he seemed to have his wits about him and had no trouble whatsoever getting around. Hmm.

I’m not really all that concerned about it, just curious is all. After all, by his own account, he hadn’t lived there much longer than we have lived in our new place. And this isn’t a very good time to be selling a house. Oh well. It’s his business, and none of ours.

I failed to mention this, but Pumpkin’s smallest puppy got run over last week. I miss the poor fellow something awful, and so does she. We both cried a lot of tears over him.

But a few days ago, we got a new furry friend. Her name is Precious, and she’s a one-year-old Pomeranian. And she is a very sweet, very beautiful girl. We have all fallen in love with her, including Hubby, who usually doesn’t like housedogs.

Precious was Pumpkin’s early birthday present, and she was tickled pink with her. But you know what they say about Poms- they get attached to one person in particular. And that person has already been established as me. She follows me everywhere I go, lays beside my chair while I work, and jumps in my lap every chance she gets. If I’m up stirring around, she’ll curl up with someone else who’s available, but other than that she is my shadow.

Precious is a very picky dog. She won’t touch the food we feed the others, so we’re going to have to find something else for her. There’s a new pet shop in town that I hear sells everything from hamsters to horse supplies, so maybe they’ll have a good selection of food to choose from. Maybe they can even suggest something for her.

We still talk about Tater Tots a lot. He was certainly a unique little creature, and no dog could ever take his place. But we’re very happy to have Precious as part of our family.

Despite all the trouble I’ve been having staying awake, I decided to try to quit drinking caffeine. I had considered it a long time ago, because caffeine is just plain bad for you. But I heard all sorts of horror stories about people getting wicked bad headaches and having other withdrawal symptoms, and thought drinking caffeine might not be so bad after all.

The doctor even told me that cutting out caffeine might help my condition, but he said that withdrawal might be tough and to just cut down if I could. So I didn’t bother. But when Hubby started having trouble with his blood pressure and decided to let me help him alter his diet in an attempt to straighten it out, I decided we should both give it a go.

Neither of us drink coffee very often at all, but Pepsi is our weakness. So when I bought groceries, I got a Caffeine Free Pepsi and a regular one. Partly to give us something caffeinated if we had those dreaded withdrawal symptoms, and partly in case my finicky husband decided he didn’t like the taste of caffeine free (even though I can’t taste a difference).

As it turned out, he liked the caffeine free just fine. And neither one of us had any withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. We drank the caffeinated Pepsi to get rid of it, and we’ve bought Caffeine Free every since. I’ve also been drinking Hawaiian Punch, and am finally starting to drink water every now and then. Hubby and Pumpkin already drank a lot of water, so they were a step ahead of me there.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that all this has helped my condition. But it does seem to have helped Hubby, along with the other changes in his diet (less salt and fat). And I don’t suppose I’ve been any tireder than I was before, if that’s even possible. So I guess we’ll stick with it.

We had some company over the weekend. A young friend of mine and Hubby’s came over, and he brought some of his friends with him. One of them was a guy who lived across the road from us at our old place.

He mentioned that our former landlords’ son, the one who we were kicked out so he could move his trailer in there, said that someone had broken into his place. I wasn’t there, so I can’t say for sure, but I call B.S.

Why, you ask? For one thing, I know these people’s track record. The landlady (and I use the term “lady” loosely here) said that the reason she was asking us to move was because they needed their son up there to help them out. Said that her husband was in poor health, and he needed someone to look after him and do the outdoor work. To hear her tell it, he should have been in a bed 24/7 wearing adult diapers. Yet I am all the time seeing him out driving around by himself. Fancy that.

Also, in the two and a half years that we lived there, no one ever bothered us except them. Their punk grandson set off my truck alarm once, and they were constantly trying to cause trouble. But other than the crap we had to put up with from them, we had no problems.

If someone did break in there, I’m betting it was the guy’s brother. He is in and out of jail all the time. And if someone didn’t, they’re probably just saying that in an attempt to get someone they are angry with in trouble. Maybe things went sour with their other renters? Who knows. And I know I shouldn’t care. But I must admit I’m still bitter about everything that went down. I don’t let them know it, though. Any time I talk to anyone who I think might talk to them, I keep my chin up and try to look and act like the happiest darn person in the world. That’s the best way to get under their skin.

Fall isn’t officially here yet, but the signs are already abundant. The leaves are starting to turn here in the mountains even though the weather is still quite warm. Stores are putting all their sexy swimwear on clearance. And it’s starting to get dark earlier and earlier.

Autumn is quite lovely here. People come from miles away to see the patchwork of colored leaves here in the mountains. I’m looking forward to raking leaves and letting Pumpkin jump in them. And yet every year, I feel a twinge of sadness when fall arrives. Not because I dislike the season itself, but because I dread what comes after it.

We’ve also got a lot to do before cold weather sets in this year. We need to get our wood stove put in, and we need to get some wood and get it split. We also need to try to find an alternate heat source to use at night, and figure out how we will keep the pipes from freezing. And we will definitely have to stock up on rock salt, because sliding down the hill from our house to the road (or across it and down the very steep embankment on the other side) could be catastrophic.

I should really stop getting ahead of myself and enjoy the here and now. But I’ve never particularly liked winter, at least not since I got old enough to drive. And here in the mountains, it can be rather unpredictable.